~ Day by day with RA …

Goats and Herbs

This post was going to be an update on how I’m feeling, etc. But when I sat down at the computer to start drafting, I bought a goat instead. I thought about a water buffalo, but there was just something about the goat that I liked. (If you think that’s weird, someday I’ll write about when I went out for some milk and came home with a new car. Seriously.)

I got a catalog the other day from Heifer International (www.heifer.org/gift). They provide farm animals to impoverished regions all over the world. A goat can lift a family out of poverty, provide milk for protein, manure for fertilizer, and baby goats that can be sold or used to increase the herd. There are gifts of all price ranges from a flock of chickens ($20) to a gift ark with a pair of everything (except the guinea pigs, rabbits and ducks — they come in threes for some reason). Or you can purchase a share of animals. A share of a goat costs $10. It’s nice to think that somewhere a goat is going to go to a new home just in time for Christmas.

I also ran across the following article indicating that there is a Chinese herb that has shown to reduce inflammation in RA patients. I’m a bit wary of mixing supplements with prescription meds, but this is really fascinating:

Herb Shows Potential for Rheumatoid Arthritis

Study compares ancient remedy to modern drug, but not the most common, experts say.

The remedy is an extract of the medicinal plant Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F (TwHF)—known in China as “lei gong teng”—and has been used for centuries to treat a variety of inflammatory diseases.

The study compared reduction in joint swelling among people with rheumatoid arthritis who took either the herb or an anti-inflammatory drug.

Rheumatoid arthritis causes chronic and painful inflammation of the joints that, over time, can lead to joint damage and loss of function.

The 121 participants in the study all had at least six swollen joints. One group took 60 milligrams of TwHF root extract three times a day, and the others 1 gram of sulfasalazine (Azulfidine), a prescription anti-inflammatory drug, twice a day.

After 24 weeks, about 65 percent of those taking the herbal extract showed at least a 20 percent improvement in their joints, based on American College of Rheumatology criteria, a standard measure of the effectiveness of arthritis treatments. About 33 percent of those taking sulfasalazine improved to that degree.

A report on the findings is published Aug. 18 in Annals of Internal Medicine.

“This study is a reminder of the potential importance of supplements and herbs in the management of arthritis,” said Dr. John H. Klippel, president and chief executive of the Arthritis Foundation. Even so, the study involved a relatively small number of people, Klippel noted. Clinical trials for pharmaceuticals typically involve many more participants studied over several years, he said.

“The findings are encouraging, but [TwHF] is not likely to be recommended by rheumatologists based on the findings of this one study alone,” Klippel said.

And, though sulfasalazine used to be very popular as an arthritis treatment, the drug is not used that often today in the United States, according to Dr. Stephen Lindsey, head of rheumatology at Ochsner Health Systems in Baton Rouge, La.

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2 thoughts on “Goats and Herbs”

While it is an alternative treatment now, many herbal and untested remedies are beginning to be clinically tested within academic institutions to separate the fact from the fiction around their effects. It will be interesting to see what medical science reveals about this traditional remedy.

I have heard of ‘Thunder God Vine’! My sister, who is a doctor, sent me this exact article. I am nursing right now so I don’t want to take anything that may not be safe for my baby (my constant problem with this disease because I am still in my child rearing days.) But I plan to try it afterward if my Rheumatologist thinks it may help! Let me know if you give it a go!